2021 – Banning Gas in New Construction
Seventy-one percent of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, the air pollution that causes climate change, come from buildings burning fossil fuels like natural gas. To address this, we worked with fellow advocates to pass the Gas Free NYC law, Local Law 154, which Mayor Bill Del Blasio signed into law on December 22, 2021. This law is a significant first step in decarbonizing New York City’s building sector, which will reduce air pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions. It went into effect for buildings under seven stories in January 2024 and those over seven stories will need to be built gas-free beginning in July 2027.
2021 – Out of Gas, In with Justice Pilot
Our Out of Gas, In with Justice pilot found significant reductions in indoor air pollution when transitioning from gas to induction stoves. Conducted at 1471 Watson Avenue in the Bronx, which is slated to be the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) first all-electric building conversion, the study replaced gas stoves in 10 intervention apartments while 10 control apartments retained their gas stoves. The study is the first in the United States to monitor indoor air quality in homes transitioning from gas stoves to electric induction stoves with residents in-place in affordable housing. And during the 10-month air quality monitoring period, households with induction stoves experienced a 35 percent reduction in daily nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations compared to those using gas stoves, when controlling for temperature and apartment-level factors. During this same period, 24-hour averages of carbon monoxide (CO) for households with gas stoves reached concentrations of 1.4 parts per million (ppm) whereas households with induction stoves had a 24-hour average of 0.8 ppm, a significant decrease. To learn more, you can read our report and whitepaper and watch the video.
2021 – Renewable Rikers
We strongly supported the Renewable Rikers Act, which paves the way to turn the last penal colony in the United States into a solar farm. Assuming the feasibility study goes well, the island could become home to solar panels producing as much as 14 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power local communities and potentially even close the city’s high-polluting “peaker” plants.
The communities most impacted by Rikers, which is slated to close by 2026, are the same low-income communities and communities of color most impacted by climate change, and also happen to be home to these filthy peaker plants, so this is a big environmental justice win. On top of that, the plan is to train people from these same communities, ideally those who have been personally impacted by facilities such as Rikers, to do the solar installations, providing some reparative justice while giving them the skills and experience they’ll need to build careers in the solar industry.
2021 – Clean School Buses
To protecting the health of our children and communities, we helped secure a commitment from Mayor Bill de Blasio to convert New York City’s dirty diesel school bus fleet to 100-percent electric buses by 2035. However, we new this commitment needed to be codified into law. As part of the NYC Clean School Bus Coalition, we successfully campaigned for a law to amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York in relation to age limitations on school buses and replacing such school buses with all electric school buses. On November 7, 2021, the Mayor signed the bill into law, mandating that school buses serving New York City public schools be all-electric by September 1, 2035.
2020 – COVID Response
We helped elevate and amplify the connection between COVID-19 and environmental racism at the city, state, and federal level. Recognizing the heightened threat of extreme heat during the COVID-19 pandemic, we created an Extreme Heat Policy Agenda and successfully lobbied for two bills to help address extreme heat, both of which are now signed into law, and are still working on another. As part of this effort, we also helped get heat-vulnerable residents free air conditioners and discounted summer electricity bills.
2020 – NYCHA Voter Engagement
We developed a Voter Engagement team to help advocate for that NYCHA platform and drive voter registration and get out the vote efforts, which we put into practice for the November election in 2020.
2019 – Climate Mobilization Act
We helped pass the landmark Climate Mobilization Act Climate Mobilization Act that expands the number of buildings required to reduce emissions while protecting affordable housing residents from having the cost of compliance passed on to them.
2017 – Asthma-Free Housing Act
Nationally, about 1 in 11 children have asthma, but in many low-income areas of New York City, the childhood asthma rate is 1 in 4. Housing deficiencies – such as wall holes or cracks, and water leaks – predispose homes to infestations of cockroaches, rodents, or mold, are common triggers for asthma attacks, which cause frequent hospital visits and absenteeism from school.
As part of the Coalition for Asthma Free Housing, WE ACT helped pass New York City’s Asthma-Free Housing Act in 2017, which prioritizes prevention and requires landlords to inspect and correct indoor allergen hazards. This law prioritizes prevention measures in homes of susceptible persons – those with diagnosed asthma, COPD, or lung cancer; requires landlords to inspect for indoor allergen hazards and correct them and their causes using approved methods; requires the New York City Housing and Preservation Department (HPD) to inspect for indoor allergen hazards and their causes, and issue appropriate violations; requires HPD to correct violations for indoor allergen hazards where landlords fail to do so promptly; creates a system for physician referrals for housing inspections by the City for patients with asthma; and codifies safe and effective work practices for remediation of mold hazards.
2017 – Solar Uptown Now
We developed the Solar Uptown Now program in 2017, installing solar panels on the roofs of 13 HDFC affordable housing in Northern Manhattan and training local residents to do the installations through our Worker Training program.
2014 – Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot
Organized a community taskforce that led to reopening Harlem’s Mother Clara Hale as the nation’s first LEEDs-rated bus depot in 2014.
2004 – Landmark Lead Law
In 2004, we successfully lobbied the New York City Council to pass a strong lead poisoning standard, Local Law 1. We went on to pass a number of additional laws in 2019 and 2020 to drive enforcement of this legislation and close loopholes in the law.
2000 – West Harlem Piers Park
In 2000, we developed a community-based plan that led to the creation of West Harlem Piers Park in 2009.
1997 – Dirty Diesel Campaign
In 1997, we began a campaign that successfully got the MTA to switch to alternative fuel vehicles and invest in pollution control retrofits for its entire bus fleet, reducing tailpipe emissions citywide by 95 percent.